A Year in Fairytales
by Aurelianella
Summary: A series of 12 syllable poems inspired by the months of the year
1. Snow White

**Author's note: **I wrote this series as an exercise in poetic techniques. I know I'm not much of a poet, but I hope these entertain anyway. I own nothing but my imagination.

* * *

Snow White

Wake,

Princess

From your bed.

Cast off shadows,

A new day has come.

A bright and shining day

Full of possibilities.

Rekindle old relationships

With long forgotten friends and family.

Remember those that have stood beside you

Even in the midst of coldest winter.

Your awakening brings people hope

That tomorrow can be better

Than the hardships of today.

Life is what you make it.

Even when it's hard

You persevere

And prevail

Over

Her.


	2. Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast

Cursed

To be

A monster

Hated and feared.

Your only comforts

Were the roses you grew.

Until the beauty arrived

Ridding you of your solitude,

But reminding you of what you are:

A man trapped inside a beast, repulsive.

But she saw through the monster to the man.

She cared for you when no one else would.

Yet she wanted to go home,

And you granted that request

Knowing it would kill you.

She returned for love.

Her love for you

Restored you

To a

Man.


	3. Frog Prince

Frog Prince

Keep,

Princess,

Your promise

No matter who

You give your word to.

Try to remember that

Things aren't always what they seem.

You never know who's listening,

And one good turn deserves another.

So don't go making idle promises.

Did you think you would get away with it?

That he wouldn't hold you to your word?

Go on Princess, give him a kiss.

You just might be rewarded

For upholding your oath.

You bend to kiss him.

Before your eyes

He becomes

A fine

Prince.


	4. Cinderella

Cinderella

Sweep

Until

Evening comes,

When stepmothers

And cruel sisters leave

To attend the great ball.

Seize your opportunity

When the fairy comes to prepare

You for a magical arrival,

Revealing the true princess inside you,

Your feet adorned by the leprechaun's craft,

Fragile dainty shoes fashioned from glass.

Like Titania herself you dance

In spider silks and dew gems

On the arm of your prince

Until midnight comes.

The quest begins

To return

Your glass

Shoe.


	5. Rapunzel

Rapunzel

Girl,

Mother,

Ugly crone

Share Rapunzel,

Leafy plant and child.

The crone turned to mother

Hides her away from the world

In order to keep her a child,

Forever an innocent maiden,

Unaware the girl dreams of something more.

Daily she sits braiding the long skein of gold

Into a glorious golden rope

By which the prince makes his way in,

Bringing the world in with him.

Maiden becomes mother.

The couple scattered,

Left to wander

Searching for

Their lost

Love.


	6. The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid

Song.

Sirens

Her voice,

Magical,

Enchants the prince,

And the mermaid falls

Under the spell of love.

She gives up her tail for him,

But he fell for the ocean's song

When the siren sang him from the sea.

Their romance ended before it began.

Without her voice she was just another

Nameless beauty wandering the beach.

She watches him choose another,

Never knowing she is there.

She returns to the sea

Now froth on the waves

Remembering

Her summer

Romance

Lost


	7. Thumbelina

Thumbelina

One

Tiny

Little girl

Fights for freedom

And the right to live

Without the tyrant toad

Forcing his way on her

Or the critical beetle's views

Convincing her she's not good enough

To make a difference because of her size

She won't bow down and hide away like the mole

Who let his limitations blind him

To all his possibilities

With the help of the swallow

She can soar through the sky

Until she meets _him_.

The fairy prince

Gifts her with

Her own

Wings.


	8. Aladdin

Aladdin

Three

Wishes

The genie

Grants his master.

A kingly palace

Full of wonders and wealth

Worthy to impress a queen,

And he is the prince of a strange land

Until another seeks his treasure –

His princess and the source of all his wealth.

It is the street rat who wins back the throne,

Who outwits the cunning grand vizier,

And thereby earns his lady's heart.

Even a thousand and one

Arabian nights can't

Fit all the exploits

Of Aladdin,

His princess,

And the

Lamp.


	9. Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty

Sleep

Valkyrie

Wake again

From your dark dreams

Ready to take on

The one who brought you down.

The Spear Maiden they called you

For your fearlessness in battle

How strange that one single drop of blood –

Your own—felled you from the height of glory

Left to lie unadorned and undisturbed

Forgotten for a hundred years

Never once feeling winter's chill

Or the warmth of late autumn

Remembered by dreamers

Who recall the myth

Of the princess

And the day

She will

Rise.


	10. Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood

Don't

Step off

The path, Red.

Monsters wait there

Ready to catch you

Unawares. Follow

Your mother's directions

And never talk to strangers.

A little girl dressed in a red cape

Can find a lot trouble in the woods.

Don't you recognize your own grandmother?

Didn't the ears and fur tip you off?

Surely the sharp fangs did the trick.

But by then it was too late.

Luckily the woodsman

Was passing by. So

Don't let a wolf

Trick you to

Be his

Treat.


	11. Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel

Sweets.

Every

Boy and girl

Dreams of sugar.

So who could blame them

For feasting on candy?

No other child could resist

A whole house made of gingerbread.

But they learned their lesson in the end,

How all those pies and cakes can make you fat.

So now they don't much like the taste of sweets.

They'd rather have something healthier,

And Gretel never learned to bake –

She doesn't like ovens much.

Hansel carries breadcrumbs

Everywhere he goes—

He's paranoid

Walking

In the

Woods.


	12. Six Swans

Six Swans

Six

Brothers

Become swans

Due to a curse.

Only their sister

Can save them. With silence

She completes the painful task

Of weaving six shirts from thistles

That pierce and sting her poor fragile hands,

All for the love of her brothers turned swans.

Not even when she's married does she speak,

Not even when her child goes missing,

Or when they try her as a witch,

Or when they find her guilty.

She just accepts her fate.

With six woven shirts

Thrown to the sky

Her brothers

Return.

Saved.


	13. Twelve

Twelve Dancing Princesses

Twelve

Dancers

Pass through the

Forests of gold,

Silver and diamonds

On their way to the ball

In the underground castle

Where twelve suitors wait to greet them

And dance until their shoes are worn thin—

The only evidence of where they've been.

No one can explain the phenomenon.

Many young questers have lost their heads

Until the soldier comes along

And discovers their secret.

But he too is entranced.

The oldest daughter

Catches his eye.

So till dawn

The two

Dance.


End file.
